Scanlon, Mary Gay, 1959-

Mary Gay Scanlon (born August 30, 1959) is an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, she has served as the U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania's 5th congressional district since January 2019. Between November 2018 and January 2019, Scanlon represented Pennsylvania's 7th district.

Born and raised in Watertown, New York, Scanlon graduated from Watertown High School before earning her B.A. from Colgate University and J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. Upon completing her education she became a judicial clerk for the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. Scanlon served as an attorney with the Education Law Center of Philadelphia, helping implement special education laws, before joining Ballard Spahr as pro bono counsel. There she helped coordinate the provision of free legal services to low income recipients. She partnered with the Wills for Heroes Foundation, providing legal documents free of charge to first responders. She helped a young woman from Guinea who had sickle-cell disease obtain permanent residency. In 2006, she was appointed vice chair of the Tax Commission. The following year, she joined the board of the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District and served as its President from 2009 to 2011. She continued as a member of the board until 2015.

In February 2018, Scanlon launched her campaign for US Congress in Pennsylvania's 5th district in the 2018 election. The district had previously been the 7th, represented by four-term Republican Pat Meehan, who had announced a month earlier that he was not running for reelection. After Meehan's resignation, Scanlon was named the Democratic candidate in a special election to succeed him. In November, Scanlon won both the special election for the balance of Meehan's fourth term in the old 7th and the regular election for a full two-year term in the new 5th. Scanlon’s legislative priorities include voting rights, access to justice, education, supporting economic growth for her region, common sense gun safety, and ending hunger. All of these priorities align with Scanlon’s main goal as an elected official: protecting and improving the lives of America’s children, families, veterans, and seniors. She currently serves on the House Judiciary Committee, House Committee on Rules, and Committee on House Administration, and chairs the House Caucuses on Access to Legal Aid and Youth Mentoring.